Luis Enrique says there is a different feeling around Paris Saint-Germain this season as they chase a second successive Champions League crown.
PSG finally ended their long wait to be crowned European champions for the first time last year, hammering Inter Milan 5-0 in a one-sided final.
The pressure is now off to a certain extent but Luis Enrique insists that doesn’t mean there is a lack of motivation to go back-to-back.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow night’s semi-final, first leg against Bayern Munich at the Parc des Princes, the Spaniard said: “It’s different because the first time it was a relief to win it. Now, it’s another story, it’s a motivation. Going back into history is great but now we are hungry. We are excited to play these games, we can’t wait.
“These are the easiest games to manage as a coach. You don’t have to motivate, it’s the opposite, you have to calm them down. It’s a balance.”
PSG are six-points clear in Ligue 1 and odds-on favourites to claim the title for the eighth time in nine years while Bayern have already clinched the Bundesliga crown.
The winner of this tie will automatically be installed as favourites to win the Champions League as well, with either Arsenal or Atletico Madrid waiting in the final.
“If you look at the offensive and defensive stats, these are the two best teams in Europe even if Arsenal has also done a very good job,” added Luis Enrique. “In terms of regularity, Bayern may be a little ahead of us because they only lost two games [this season]. But if we talk about what we show on the field, we are better. There is no better team than us. After not being in the top eight of the league phase, I already said that there was no-one better than us.”
Bayern won 2-1 at the Parc in the league phase despite playing with 10 men for the entire second half following the dismissal of two-goal hero Luis Diaz and the club’s CEO, and former Germany international, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is confident of a repeat.
He told t-online: “The two games against PSG will demand everything from us. Everyone must be in top shape and the team must repeat exactly what they showed in the 2-1 victory in the league phase in Paris – in both games. We played fantastic football in the first half.
“Of course, this would have been a nice final, but it’s now the semi-final.”
Team news for PSG v Bayern Munich
PSG are at full strength with the exception of teenage forward Quentin Ndjantou. Luis Enrique rested most of his big guns for the 3-0 win at Angers at the weekend but the likes of Marquinhos, Vitinha, Ousmane Dembele and Joao Neves will return to the starting XI.
Bayern boss Vincent Kompany is without five players through injury – Tom Bischof, Lennart Karl, Serge Gnabry, Raphael Guerreiro and Sven Ulreich.
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